A cartoonist carrying a toy gun that looked real surrendered to police at The Miami Herald's building Friday, more than two hours after arriving and demanding to see an editor of the newspaper's Spanish-language sister paper, police said. Jose Varela, 50, carried a knife and a black plastic toy gun that resembled a real semiautomatic weapon, police said. He was charged with three counts of aggravated assault with a firearm. He was being held on $22,500 bond, jail officials said. Varela had problems with El Nuevo Herald, where he worked as a contractor, including its position on Cuban emigres, said Police Chief John Timoney. He had routine access to the building, officials said. A police negotiator talked Varela into surrendering peacefully at about 2:45 p.m., Timoney said. No injuries were reported... http://www.msnbc.msn.com

The Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said an all-party security conference convened after Thursday's wave of bombings had been a success. Mr Talabani said delegates had agreed to increase co-operation and to really participate in the government of national unity. At least 230 people were killed in two days of violence in Baghdad. Mr Talabani postponed a trip to Iran because of a curfew imposed on the capital in response to the violence. He had been due to meet Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for talks on the security situation in Iraq. Mr Talabani said he might go to Tehran on Sunday if Baghdad's airport were reopened. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6182780.stm

A stairwell at a rental cabin collapsed as more than 30 family members posed for a group picture on Friday afternoon, sending 11 to the hospital, officials said. Some of the people fell as far as 15 feet to the ground, said Capt. Mike Taylor of the Gatlinburg Fire Department. Five people were flown to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, including a 15-month-old infant. Names of the victims were not released. The injuries mostly bumps, bruises and some broken bones were not believed to be life-threatening, Taylor said. Others were treated at the scene. "It definitely could have been worse," Taylor said. ...http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2678386

Southern Afghanistan is far from having been pacified -- a bloody war with the Taliban has erupted there. German troops have picked a relatively comfortable spot for themselves in the north of the country. Because they have avoided deadly fighting, they have been labeled "cowards" by the Americans and Brits. But are they? David Byers peers forth cautiously at the world from behind his narrow, steel-rimmed glasses. He's combed his short brown hair so it fits neatly under his beret. His mouth is fixed in a serious expression, and Byers looks as if he has a lot of questions on his mind. His visage is part of a photo of his batallion, the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. Private Byers was 22 years old when he was first sent into the field -- in southern Afghanistan, more than 16,000 kilometers (9,942 miles) from his hometown of Espanola in southern Canada. His mission was to help bring democracy and political stability to the land of the Hindu Kush mountains -- ...http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,450397,00.html

In the movie "The Wizard of Oz," the Tin Man receives a testimonial, the kind given to good deed doers. In Britain, good deed doers get honors bestowed on them by the Queen on the recommendation of the government in power. They go to charity workers, school crossing guards, to philanthropists, captains of industry and top entertainers. Some get an OBE -- Officer of the Order of the British Empire. Or a CBE -- Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire . Others, an MBE -- Member of the British Empire. And if you are really impressive you might become a Dame or a Knight -- Sir Richard Branson, Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Elton John and Sir Tom Jones, to name a few. Or you might become a Lord! The Queen’s Honours are supposed to be for those who make a difference, a positive difference to British society. But sometimes it seems it may be an under-the-table payback for favors to the government. Not only is this not cricket, it’s not legal, having been outlawed back in 1925. ...http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/11/22/world/main2205655.shtml?source=RSSattr=World_2205655

Authorities are reviewing the conviction of a man imprisoned for a 1992 rape after he was cleared by DNA tests that the original lab analyst refused to conduct. Marlon Pendleton's lawyers received the results of the new tests Wed & filed amotion seeking to vacate his conviction. Prosecutors were reviewing the case & Pendleton's conviction in another rape, said John Gorman, spokesman for State's Attorney Richard Devine. A hearing was set for next Thursday. "It was no surprise to me," Pendleton, 49, told the Chicago Tribune on Thur in an interview at the Dixon Correctional Center. "I always knew I was innocent." Pendleton demanded DNA testing after his arrest, but police lab analyst Pamela Fish said there wasn't enough genetic material to test the evidence. Pendleton was convicted based on the victim's identification. Fish's work has been challenged in the past, most notably in the cases of 4 men later cleared by DNA evidence of the 1986 rape & murder of medical student Lori Roscetti...http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/11/24/rape.dna.ap/index.html?eref=rss_us